Victorian Government forced into embarrassing backflip over East West Link compensation payout

The Victorian Government has come under fire for backtracking on a key election promise not to handover billions in compensation to ditch the controversial East West Link.

Before last year’s election, then-Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews promised taxpayers no compensation would be paid to the consortium contracted to build the 6.6km toll road and that the contracts weren’t "worth the paper they're written on".

But Mr Andrews today confirmed the consortium would be refunded for any work it had already carried out before being cancelled by Labor in December.

“There are issues around costs that have been incurred, and we were very clear about, it’s appropriate to refund people costs that have been incurred,” he told the Herald Sun today.

“That’s a usual practice, whether you are building a house worth two or three hundred thousand dollars or a much bigger project.”

Mr Andrews has refused to outline how much compensation will be paid, saying “negotiations were ongoing”.

But key members of the consortium contracted for the East West Link deal are reportedly demanding at least $1.2 billion to walk away from the project.